Movie/film suggestions.

Like @immatthewj, I’m a liberal progressive who was raised in a home with firearms. My dad made my brother and I take NRA firearm safety courses back when it was just that, safety courses and not a lobbying firm on the take for gun manufacturers. 

Having said that, I don’t believe Alec Baldwin was at fault, even if he was the producer. He can’t be everywhere at all times and besides, being a producer just means you helped secure funds to have a movie made or know someone who does. 

The job of armorer is very important and Reed was young, connected and incompetent. Actors act, amoreres maintain and arm guns, cameramen run cameras, etc. When an actor is handed a gun, the armorer and another person have to have inspected and/or loaded the gun. Live ammo is never allowed on set. "Cold gun" was announced when the gun was handed over. That meant no ammo in it. "Hot gun" means there’s blanks in it. Reed said she checked "most of the time"  Her testimony! It’s one of the cushiest jobs in film making you can get and she couldn’t even take it seriously enough to do it right.

Even if there were blanks, there’s no way for an actor to tell if a six gun is safely loaded with blanks unless they look down the front of the gun and rotate the cylnder chamber by chamber and I know of no one who would do that. You can only tell by looking at the buisness end of the bullet. You just can’t swing open the cylinder like on a modern gun and you can’t tell by looking at the primer end of the bullets even if you could swing it open.

Blanks are still deadly. I’ve seen 9mm blanks go halfway through a phonebook and a .45 punch threw a can at close range. That actor who put a gun loaded with blanks to his head and pulled the trigger thinking nothing would happen shoved a half dollar size of his skull halfway into his head. 

Reed gave a bag of cocaine to another crew member so it wouldn’t be found on her. Off set she did coke, pot and booze (that’s her business but it speaks to her character). She and/or her subordinate brought the live ammo on the set. As for pointing the gun at the camera, that’s what the scene called for (you see it all the time in movies). 

Cinematographer Hutchins was lining up her camera for the shot as Baldwin held the gun. It went off like it did about a week earlier with another actor prompting several crew members to say" f*ck it, I’m outta here". 

In the trial Hannah was found guilty of negligent manslaughter but charges of tampering with evidence was dropped after many people suddenly started handling the guns and ammo. That should tell you something. Hannah also faces charges of bringing one of her loaded guns into a bar as well. As for Baldwin, he was exonerated after finding the prosecution hid evidence that there was live ammo on the set. Prosecutorial misconduct as they call it. They had it in for him since he’s a liberal. Go figure.

Now watch this post get deleted. 

All the best,
Nonoise

@nonoise Baldwin pulled the trigger. HE killed a person. The End. 

Everything else is how and how unfortunate. I have never in my life picked up a gun, pointed it at a person and pulled the trigger. 

Baldwin bears responsibility for taking a life 100%. He pulled the trigger. There was zero reason for him to play with a gun. He is not 5 years old. 

For the record, if I had done what he had, I would have plead guilty. My life would be hell anyway in or outside prison. 

@gano Baldwin wasn't playing with the gun. He was holding it like he was supposed to according the script, aimed at the camera.

I know you hate guns but that's quite the leap of logic to say he "pulled" the trigger as if he knew it was loaded. How else does one hold the gun?

Actors aren't remotely supposed to be armorers. Only some know their way around a gun. That's why there's supposed to be safety on the set with the armorer in charge of the gun and the actor using it as a prop. 

Horrible as it was, it's not Baldwin's fault for trusting what's supposed to be a professional. At least two armorers are required to check it. A court of law saw it that way too.

All the best,
Nonoise

@nonoise agree to disagree. I would not point a functioning gun at a person. Point a freaking ruler or water bottle. No one has died from that. Build non-functioning pistols, jam them, whatever it takes. 

To put it in context, how would you value eliminating all risks if it was the mother of your child? Wouldn't you want all precautions taken? When things CAN go wrong they WILL. Humans make mistakes. That's why we create safety protocols.

@gano Same here re: agree to disagree. 

Guns have been in movies since the beginning of movies. That's why it's a well regulated industry. All it took was an amateur with experience gained from working with real professionals to slip through the cracks and slack off. She was a big fish in a small pond who wouldn't make it in a big budget Hollywood film.

Imagine if Baldwin was shooting a Viking movie and had to swing a battle axe at the camera for the script. Is he supposed to be an expert on battle axes and inspect it or does he rely on the expertise of the armorer? 

So he swings it for the camera and the head comes off striking and killing the camera operator. Is he at fault for that as well? Things can go wrong and will forever continue to do so despite the safety protocols we put in place. 

Baldwin was supposed to have been given an unloaded gun since it was to be pointed at the camera and that was with safety protocols. The armorer screwed up badly and was lucky she only got 18 months in prison considering she did the same thing a week earlier to another actor, was probably high and despite the dropped charge of tampering with the evidence to hide the live ammo and get it off the set.  

I know this is a touchy subject so I'll let this be the last I say on it. 

All the best,
Nonoise